Delivery, storage and blending system for multi-component granular compositions

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention include a method and system for blending multi-component granular compositions such as proppant used in hydraulic fracturing in well drilling. The system includes the control and management of an on-site storage system for each of the components, regulating the delivery of specified quantities of each component to a well site, and coordinating the flow of materials into and out of the blender.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation-in-part to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/287,523 filed Oct. 6, 2016 that claims priorityunder 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application 62/350,262 filedJun. 15, 2016 and to U.S. Provisional Application 62/352,037 filed Jun.20, 2016, and is also a continuation-in-part to and claims priorityunder 35 U.S.C. 120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/557,832 filedDec. 2, 2014 (now U.S. Pat. No. 9,499,335), which is a divisional of andclaims priority under 35 U.S.C. 120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/658,551 filed Oct. 23, 2012 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,926,252), whichclaims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application61/550,776, filed Oct. 24, 2011 and U.S. Provisional Application61/661,044 filed Jun. 18, 2012, each of which are hereby incorporated byreference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to systems and methods for delivery,on-site storage and blending of large quantities of multi-componentgranular compositions. In particular, the present invention relates to acoordinated system for 9 the delivery, storage and blending ofmulti-component granular compositions for use in the oil and natural gasmining and drilling industries at remote locations.

Description of the Related Art

Granular materials, such as sand, are used in bulk quantities in anumber of applications. For example, mining companies sometimes make useof a technique termed “hydraulic fracturing” to aid in the extraction offossil fuels from well sites. Hydraulic fracturing is the propagation offractures in a rock layer caused by the presence of a pressurized fluid.Hydraulic fractures form naturally, as in the case of veins or dikes,and is one means by which gas and petroleum from source rocks maymigrate to reservoir rocks.

In some cases, oil and gas companies may attempt to accelerate thisprocess in order to release petroleum, natural gas, coal seam gas, orother substances for extraction, where the technique is often called“fracking” or “hydrofracking.” This type of fracturing is done from awellbore drilled into reservoir rock formations. The energy from theinjection of a highly-pressurized fracking fluid creates new channels inthe rock which can increase the extraction rates and ultimate recoveryof fossil fuels. When done in already highly-permeable reservoirs suchas sandstone-based wells, the technique is known as well stimulation.Operators typically try to maintain fracture width or slow its declinefollowing treatment by introducing a proppant into the injected fluid. Aproppant is a material, such as grains of sand, ceramic, or otherparticulates, that prevents the fractures from closing when theinjection is stopped. Consideration of proppant strengths and preventionof proppant failure becomes more important at deeper depths wherepressure and stresses on fractures are higher.

Hydraulic fracturing, often performed in remote areas, uses largeamounts of granular material that must be shipped into the site. Thelarge amount of granular material required in a fracking operation at awell site requires that these materials be stored close to the well siteso that they may be used as needed. Usable storage space at well anddrilling sites is frequently very limited due to the terrain at the wellsites or other factors related to the inaccessibility of the sites. As aresult, storage space for materials necessary for drilling and miningoperations is often at a premium. Improving the efficiency and use ofstorage space at drilling and well sites can have important economic aswell as practical benefits for drilling and mining operations.

Typically, tractor trailer rigs are used to transport these materials towell sites. If no or insufficient storage space is available at the wellsite, it is oftentimes necessary to store the materials in the sametractor trailer rigs that delivered the materials to the well site. Thisis an inefficient and frequently cost-prohibitive solution to thestorage problem because the trailers must be parked until needed. Thisis costly because the drivers and their trucks are forced to wastevaluable time out of service. Thus, the efficient storage of materialsat oil and natural gas well sites is a critical factor in the successfulimplementation of fracking operations.

In addition, to the need for an efficient on-site storage system, thereis an existing need for a means to efficiently control the mixing of thestored granular material to produce a prescribed blend of materials toform the desired proppant.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a method and system for blendingmulti-component granular compositions such as proppant used in hydraulicfracturing in well drilling. The system includes the control andmanagement of an on-site storage system for each of the components, theregulation of the delivery of specified quantities of each component toa blender, and the coordination of the flow of materials into and out ofthe blender.

One embodiment of the present invention is a well site blending systemcomprising: (a) a blender that blends a set of ingredients into a blendmixture, wherein the blend mixture contains a controlled quantity ofeach ingredient in the set of ingredients and wherein the blender has ablender monitoring device that dynamically monitors an amount of blendmixture contained in the blender; (b) a plurality of storage containers,wherein at least one storage container contains each ingredient of theblend mixture and wherein each storage container containing oneingredient has a storage container monitoring device that dynamicallymonitors an amount of the ingredient contained in that storagecontainer; (c) a central feeder oriented to deliver the ingredients ofthe blend mixture into the blender; (d) an ingredient feeder for eachstorage container oriented to deliver the ingredient exiting from thestorage container to the central feeder; (e) a plurality of feederregulators, wherein a central regulator controls a blend mixturedelivery rate from the central feeder into the blender and oneingredient regulator for each ingredient feeder that controls aningredient delivery rate from the ingredient feeder to the centralfeeder; (f) a blender control device that regulates an exit rate of theblend mixture from the blender; and (f) a management system configuredto regulate the feeder regulators and the blender control device toregulate the amount of the blend mixture in the blender at any giventime is within predetermined limits.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for blendingingredients of a blend mixture at a well site including the steps of:(a) deploying a blending system at the well site, wherein the blendsystem comprises (i) a blender that blends a set of ingredients into ablend mixture, wherein the blend mixture contains a controlled quantityof each ingredient in the set of ingredients and wherein the blender hasa blender monitoring device that dynamically monitors an amount of blendmixture contained in the blender; (ii) a plurality of storagecontainers, wherein at least one storage container contains eachingredient of the blend mixture and wherein each storage containercontaining one ingredient has a storage container monitoring device thatdynamically monitors an amount of the ingredient contained in thatstorage container; (iii) a central feeder oriented to deliver theingredients of the blend mixture into the blender; (iv) an ingredientfeeder for each storage container oriented to deliver the ingredientexiting from the storage container to the central feeder; (v) aplurality of feeder regulators, wherein a central regulator controls ablend mixture delivery rate from the central feeder into the blender andone ingredient regulator for each ingredient feeder that controls aningredient delivery rate from the ingredient feeder to the centralfeeder; (vi) a blender control device that regulates an exit rate of theblend mixture from the blender; and (vii) a management system configuredto regulate the feeder regulators and the blender control device toregulate the amount of the blend mixture in the blender at any giventime is within predetermined limits and to balance the blend ingredientsdelivery rate into the blender with the exit rate of the blend mixturefrom the blender; (b) determining a desired blend delivery rate for theblend ingredients to enter the blender and a desired blend exit rate forthe blended ingredients to exit the blender to meet a predeterminedlimit to an amount of blend ingredients in the blender; (c) instructingthe management system to regulate the feeder regulators or the blendercontrol device whenever the blender monitoring device detects the amountof blend ingredients in the blender is outside of the predeterminedlimit; (d) altering a central regulator setting to adjust the blenddelivery rate to the desired blend delivery rate; (e) calculating aningredient flow rate for each ingredient to achieve an ingredientdelivery rate that provides a controlled quantity of each ingredientonto the central feeder to provide the blend mixture into the blender atthe desired blend delivery rate; (f) altering each ingredient regulatorsetting to adjust each ingredient delivery rate to the calculatedingredient flow rate; (g) altering a blender control device setting toadjust the blend exit rate to the desired blend exit rate; (h)evaluating a total usage rate for each ingredient at the well site,wherein all changes to the blend delivery rate, the ingredient deliveryrates and the blend exit rate are used to update the evaluation of thetotal usage rate for each ingredient; (i) creating an ingredientforecast based on the total amount of each ingredient available at thewell site, a total amount of each ingredient available at a remotestorage facility, the total usage rate for each ingredient, apredetermined limit to the total amount of each ingredient available atthe well site, and a delivery time needed to deliver a truck load of theingredient to the on-site ingredient storage container; and (j)activating an ingredient delivery whenever an upcoming need foradditional ingredient at the well is predicted by the ingredientforecast.

Still another embodiment of the present invention is a method forsupplying ingredients for a blending project comprising the steps of:(a) monitoring a supply of a plurality of ingredients at a remotestorage facility; (b) monitoring a supply of the ingredients at a wellsite, wherein at least one storage container at the well site containseach ingredient of the blend mixture and wherein each storage containercontaining one ingredient has a storage container monitoring device thatdynamically monitors an amount of the ingredient contained in thatstorage container; (c) regulating a usage rate of each ingredient of theblend mixture at the well site; and (d) creating an ingredient inventoryforecast based on a total amount of each ingredient available at thewell site, a total amount of each ingredient available at the remotestorage facility, a total usage rate for each ingredient, apredetermined limit to the total amount of each ingredient available atthe well site, and a delivery time needed to deliver a truck load of theingredient to the on-site ingredient storage container; and (e)activating an ingredient delivery whenever an upcoming need foradditional ingredient at the well is predicted by the ingredientforecast.

Yet another embodiment of the present invention is a storage managementsystem. The storage management system includes a non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium storing executable computer programinstructions, the instructions executable to perform steps comprising:monitoring a level, a mass or an amount of an ingredient stored in oneor more designated silos associated with a silo system; evaluating alevel, a mass or an amount of a predetermined blend mixture in a blenderassociated with a blender system; automatically adjusting an outflowrate of the blend mixture into or out of the blender; and automaticallyadjusting a delivery rate of one or more ingredients from the one ormore silos into the blender.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a computer-implementedmethod for the coordination of a blender system. The method includes thesteps of: receiving instructions for monitoring and collectinginformation on a level, a mass or an amount of a blend mixture containedin a blender associated with the blender system; submitting themonitored information to a monitoring system, wherein the monitoringsystem is interlinked with the blender system; evaluating whether thelevel, the mass or the amount of the blend mixture is within apredetermined limit defined in a job schedule; adjusting the level, themass or the amount of the blend mixture by submitting an adjustmentrequest to a storage management system, wherein the storage managementsystem is interlinked with the monitoring system and the blender system;and processing a request from the monitoring system to alter an outflowrate of the blend mixture from the blender. The method further involvesinterlinking a silo system with the blender system, comprising:monitoring and collecting information on the level, the mass or theamount of the ingredient in each silo associated with the silo system;submitting the collected information to the monitoring system and themanagement system; submitting the delivery rate of the ingredient from adesignated silo into the blender to the monitoring system and themanagement system; and processing requests from the management system toadjust the delivery rate of the ingredient from the silo into theblender.

Other embodiments include a delivery system having: (a) a truckinventory of tractor trailers at a remote storage facility, wherein eachtractor trailer contains one ingredient of the blend mixture; (b) atractor trailer monitoring device that dynamically monitors the amountof the ingredient contained in the tractor trailer rig and a location ofthe tractor trailer; and (c) a required time to deliver the ingredientfrom the tractor trailer into the storage container. The delivery systemmay also be in communication with the management system and the storagecontainer monitors wherein the management system continuously evaluatesa total amount of each ingredient available at the well site, a totalamount of each ingredient available at a remote storage facility, and adelivery time needed to deliver a truck load of the ingredient to theon-site ingredient storage container such that whenever the amount ofthe ingredient available at the well site falls outside of apredetermined limits the management system request the delivery systemto select a tractor trailer from the truck inventory to deliver theingredient to the well site.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly several aspects of the presentinvention in order that the detailed description of the invention thatfollows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages ofthe invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject ofthe claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilledin the art that the conception and the specific embodiment disclosedmight be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or redesigning thestructures for carrying out the same purposes as the invention. Theforegoing has outlined rather broadly several aspects of the presentinvention in order that the detailed description of the invention thatfollows may be better understood.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Appended FIGS. 1-16 depict certain non-limiting embodiments of thedelivery, storage and blending system. The figures are not intended tolimit the scope of the invention but, instead, are intended to providedepictions of specific embodiments, features and non-limitingcharacteristics of the systems described herein. The accompanyingfigures further illustrate the present invention. The components of anembodiment shown in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale,emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principlesof the present invention.

FIG. 1 depicts a modular storage and blending system having anarrangement of six silos positioned vertically on two separate baseplatforms with a central conveyor between the two platforms.

FIG. 2 depicts a silo in a horizontal orientation on a trailer bedpositioned on a base platform.

FIG. 3 depicts a silo being raised from a trailer bed.

FIG. 4 depicts a silo in an upright vertical orientation on a baseplatform.

FIG. 5 depicts a free-standing silo system disengaged from a flippermechanism and trailer bed.

FIG. 6 depicts a side view of three silos positioned in a verticalorientation on a base platform.

FIG. 7 depicts a modular storage and blending system having twelve siloswhere two of modular six silo storing and blending systems depicted inFIG. 1 and aligned in close proximity to each other with their centralconveyors interlinked.

FIG. 8 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of the storage andblending system.

FIG. 9A is a flowchart illustrating a process for monitoring the contentlevels within the silos.

FIG. 9B is a flowchart illustrating a process for controlling theblending of multiple components of a blend mixture.

FIG. 9C is a flowchart illustrating a process for controlling theblending process based on the level of the contents within the blender.

FIG. 10 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of the storageand blending system for blending two components.

FIG. 11 depicts a screen display related to the storage and blendingsystem represented in FIG. 10.

FIG. 12 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of the storageand blending system for blending seven components.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the information flow for the storageand blending system.

FIG. 14A depicts one embodiment of a screen display related tomonitoring the content levels within each silo.

FIG. 14B depicts one embodiment of a screen display related to thehistory of component usage from and input into each silo over aspecified time period.

FIG. 15 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of the managementsystem and its interaction with the delivery system, the monitoringsystem, the blender system and the silo system.

FIG. 16 is a schematic representation of one embodiment of theinformation flow among the monitoring system, the management system, theinternet and/or an Ethernet, and their interaction with the deliverysystem, the blender system, the silo system, and authorized operatorsand authorized data users.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention relates to a method and system for delivering,storing, and blending multi-component granular compositions such asproppant used in hydraulic fracturing in well drilling. The systemincludes the control and management of a delivery and on-site storagesystem for each of the components, the regulation of the delivery andstorage of specified quantities of each component, and the regulation ofthe components to a blender, and the coordination of the flow ofmaterials into and out of the blender.

Unless specifically defined herein, all technical and scientific termsused have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art to which this invention belongs. The term “granularmaterial” is used to define a flowable material comprising solidmacroscopic particles, such as sand, gravel, or the like. The term“proppant” is used to define a granular material used in drilling, forexample by oil and gas industries. Proppant comprises appropriatelysized and shaped particles which may be mixed with fracturing fluid foruse in a hydraulic fracturing treatment. A proppant is a material suchas naturally occurring grains of sand of a predetermined size, orengineered materials, such as resin-coated sand, ceramic materials,sintered bauxite, or the like.

As used herein, the term “a programmable logic control unit or device(PLCD)” refers to any programmable computing device that includesprogrammable logic controllers, servers, mainframes, desktop computers,laptops, and any handheld devices such as tablets and smart phones.

As used herein, the term “about” refers to a +/−10% variation from thenominal value. It is to be understood that such a variation is alwaysincluded in a given value provided herein, whether or not it isspecifically referred to.

As used herein, the term “component” is used interchangeably with theterm “ingredient.”

One aspect of the delivery, storage and blending system includes acoordinated management control system for a delivery system, a blendersystem, a silo system, and a monitoring system as described herein andshown in FIG. 15, One aspect of the delivery system is shown in FIGS. 15and 16 and includes a fleet of tractor trailer rigs that are tracked ona delivery system and summoned when needed to maintain the necessaryquantities of ingredients in the silos. One aspect of the silo system,the monitoring system and the blender system is shown in FIG. 8 andincludes vertically standing storage containers for storing componentsor ingredients of the multi-component composition on-site, monitoring aprimary feeder 820 for feeding materials into the blender 810, a leadingredient feeder 835 for dispensing a predetermined quantity of a majoringredient of the blend mixture from a storage container 110 to thecentral feeder 820 and one or more secondary feeders 830 for dispensingpredetermined quantities of minor ingredients from their storagecontainer 110 to the central feeder 820.

Transport and Deployment of On-Site Storage System

One embodiment of an on-site modular storage system 100 is shown inFIG. 1. The storage system 100 includes a plurality of mobile storagecontainers 110, also referred to herein as silos, arranged on a baseplatform 115. FIGS. 2-5 show one embodiment of transporting the storagecontainers 110 and deploying the containers on-site.

In a transportation configuration shown in FIG. 2, the silo 110 may bemounted on a trailer 210 and transported using a truck 205 to a sitewhere the silo is to be employed. Upon arrival at the site, the truck205 may be used to position the trailer 210 onto the surface of a baseplatform 115 that has been prepositioned at the site. The trailer 210,upon which is mounted a silo 110, is backed up onto the surface of abase platform 115 using a truck 205 that is coupled to the trailer.Typically, the tires of the trailer 210 are kept aligned and properlyoriented via guiderails on the surface of the base platform 115.Optionally, tire stops may be employed to halt the movement of thetrailer 210 at a desired position on the base platform 115. Once thetrailer 210 is in a desired position on the base platform 115, the rearend of the trailer (the end of the trailer 210 furthest away from thetruck 205 in FIG. 2) is raised using hydraulic jacks that may be locatedand attached on either side of trailer 210.

The base platform. 115 serves to stabilize the silo 110 and the trailer210 as the silo 110 is deployed into a vertical position. The baseplatform 115 also functions to provide stability to the silo 110 once itis in the vertical position, as well as when the silo 110 is retractedback onto the trailer 210 after deployment. The base platform 115provides a rigid stable base for installation, operation and removal ofthe silos 110, Typically, one to three vertical free-standing silos maybe positioned on a single base platform 115, The flat bottom baseplatform 115, allows a larger weight-bearing area on the groundresulting in lower ground pressure per unit weight of the silos.

The trailer 210 has an erecting mechanism that allows for rotation ofthe silo during the raising or upending of the silo onto the baseplatform. One embodiment of the erecting mechanism is shown in FIGS. 3,4 and 5. The erection mechanism includes a rocker arm 304 having aproximal end that is rotatably attached to the trailer 210 and a distalend attached to a flipper mechanism 310 that is adapted to be detachablycoupled to a silo.

FIG. 3 depicts an actuator 302 (which in certain embodiments may be ahydraulic cylinder or rod) that is coupled to the trailer 210 and therocker arm 304. The rocker arm 304 is rotatably coupled to the rockerarm 304 at a pin 214 and to the trailer 210 at a pin 312 which serves asa pivot point for the rocker arm 304 about which the rocker arm 304 canrotate. The rocker arm 304 is also coupled to an arm 306. Arm 306 iscoupled to the flipper mechanism 310 which is in turn coupled to thesilo 110. The flipper mechanism 310 is also coupled to the trailer 210at pin 308. Pin 308 serves as a pivot point for the flipper mechanism310 about which the flipper mechanism 310 can rotate. The silo 110 maybe raised to a vertical position (or lowered to a horizontal position)by activating the actuator 302 such that the rocker arm 304 and arm 306rotate the flipper mechanism 310 from a horizontal to a verticalposition (or conversely from a vertical to a horizontal position.) Thebase platform 115 provides stability to the silo 110 as well as thetrailer 210 during and after deployment or retraction of the silo 110.

The silo trailer 210 includes hydraulic jacks 212 at the rear of trailerwhich assist in the deployment of the silo 110 onto the base platform115. The hydraulic jacks raise the trailer to allow silo clearance asthe silo 110 is upended onto the base platform 115 and once the silo israised the jacks lower the trailer 210 so that the silo legs 116 can besecured to the platform 115. Once the silo is secured to the platform,the hydraulic jacks continue to be lowered to disengage the trailer 210from the silo 110, thereby freeing the trailer 210 and allowing thetruck 205 to tow it away.

FIG. 4 depicts the silo 110 in a fully vertical position but stillcoupled to the flipper mechanism 310 which is in turn coupled to arm 306and the rocker arm 304, while FIG. 5 depicts a configuration in whichthe silo 110 is free standing and disengaged from the flipper mechanism310 and the flipper mechanism has been fully retracted.

FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of a base platform 115 with threevertically standing silos 110 with their legs 116 secured to the baseplatform 115. The platform 115 typically has an operational section 117with an attached power generator 119. A power distribution center isincluded for distribution of power to the one to three silos positionedon a base platform 115 with preinstalled hardware to operate a secondbase platform 115. The base platform and its associated operationalsection 117, with a set of wheels positioned under the operationalsection, may be transported from one location to another as though itwere a trailer by attaching it to a tractor for relocation.

Managing the Content of the Silos at the Site

A preferred embodiment of an on-site modular storage system 100 is shownin FIG. 1. The illustrated embodiment of the modular storage system 100includes six silos 110, also referred to as storage containers, arrangedas two approximately parallel rows of three silos. Each line of threesilos are secured to a base platform 115 with an operational section 117at one end of each platform. A generator or power system 119 allows forthe self contained operation of the storage and blending system 100.

One embodiment of the modular storage system 100 includes silos ofdifferent shapes and sizes. For example, the silos 110 shown is FIG. 6include two different sizes of silos. In certain embodiments, smallersilos can be an advantage if one of the components for a specific blendis to be added in trace amounts.

Using the modular storage system 100, the storage and blending systemcan be expanded in a modular fashion to include additional silos. Thismodular expansion system allows the user to expand the volume of storagefor each component (also referred to herein as an ingredient) of amulti-component composition (also referred to herein as a blendmixture). For example, each modular storage system 100 added provides anadditional six silos for storage. Since each silo provides a separatestorage compartment, the user can house a different component oringredient in each silo. Alternatively, for storing large quantities ofa component, such as proppant for a fracking job, then each additionalsix silos greatly increases the on-site storage of a component. Forexample, if the user is storing proppant on-site an additional six silosprovides about 2,500,000 pounds of additional proppant storage, or atwelve silo system (as illustrated in FIG. 7) enables the pressurepumper to preload about 5,000,000 pounds of proppant or nominally onehundred over-the-road truckloads. This gives the pressure pumper acompetitive advantage in that it eliminates potential delay anddemurrage costs by allowing a large on-site inventory of proppant thatis immediately available for use.

The silos 110 may contain one or more devices for monitoring the levelof their contents. The monitoring devices may be sonic, radar, optical,inductive or mechanical level monitors. Measuring the contents is usefulfor inventory management, determining and controlling the rate of usage,and avoiding over filling or unexpected empty conditions as shown inFIG. 9A and described in more detail below.

For example, load cells or strain gauges attached to the silo legs 116may be used to weigh the contents of the silo. Another example of amonitoring device is a pulsed radar monitor positioned inside a silo 110at the top portion of the silo. The pulsed radar on the top of the silois used to detect the profile of the granular component in the silo, asit takes the angle of repose of the component into consideration andcalculates an effective level, or weight, of the component in the silo.

As indicated in FIG. 9A, the silo content level may be transmitted by alevel transmitter to a programmable logic control unit or device (PLCD916) for visual display 914 and/or to a human machine interface that isvisible to the on-site operator, who can control the content level ofthe silo through a PLCD 916 either by slowing the discharge of component924 from the silo, switching to another silo for discharging thatcomponent 926, or start refilling the silo 922 with that component.Embodiments of the PLCD include programmable logic controllers, servers,mainframes, desktop computers, laptops, and any handheld devices such astablets and smart phones.

Preferred embodiments determine real time variations in the level,volume or weight of the contents of the silos and transmit the level ofcomponent in the silo to the PLCD 916 that is programmed toautomatically slow or stop the outflow of component from a particularsilo at a pre-determined level, switch silo flows to ensure theuninterrupted flow of the component, or initiate the refilling of thesilo to maintain the silo level of component within predeterminedlimits. This PLCD-based monitoring and automatic operation removes theneed to have visual monitoring of each silo or storage container,thereby reducing the number of personnel required at a given sitelocation.

One embodiment of a digitally communicated silo monitoring systempresents all real-time consumption trends and operating parameters viamobile devices, including laptops, tablets and smart phones. Thismonitoring system enables everyone associated with the on-siteoperation, such as field operators and on-site employees as well asrepresentatives of component supply companies, to monitor the progressand efficiency of the management of the on-site inventory of multiplecomponents needed at various stages of an operation.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, the PLCD 1300 is in constant communicationand shares information and data with the monitoring system, themanagement system, the delivery system, the silo system and the blendersystem. The software integral to the operation of the monitoring systemand the storage management system orchestrates the activation,deactivation, and cooperation of the various on-site and off-sitecomponents of the system.

Typically, one of the first steps required by the software is to assigncertain designations to the silos at a particular site operation. Thesedesignations are used to segment the data by location (with a GPSidentification) so that the software can recognize authorized users ofthe site information and data. For example, a six-pack configuration oftwo bases and six silos as shown in FIG. 1 might be assigned a fleet(FLT) number with each base platform having a combination of three silosat a given location assigned a fleet number such as FLT 13A and FLT 13B.

One of the next steps will be to enter identifiers of authorized users,what information and data is accessible to each authorized user andwhether that individual can input data into the software, modify data inthe software, or has a read only clearance. Generally, authorized userswill fall into different categories with access to different data. Forexample, all on-site operation personnel may have access to all the rawfield data, the calculated data, and the logged historical data over thetime of that particular site operation. Another example, might be theemployees or administrators of a service company or component supplier.Like the on-site operation personnel, the service provider personnel mayhave access to all the raw field data, the calculated data, and thelogged historical data over the time of that particular site operation;however, the service provider personnel may also have access to thedelivery system information such as the inventory of tractor trailers,ingredient supplies and delivery schedules.

Personnel that creates the various lists of authorized users will begiven “create” permission to add, edit, and delete authorized users froma particular list. Other users will the given “view” or “read only”permissions. Each authorized user may be given a secure user number thatwhen entered into a secure website will automatically route that user toonly the material that that particular authorized user can create and/orview. Otherwise whenever a user signs in, the user can enter specificssuch as the customer name and/or fleet number to be granted access tothe site data and information.

FIG. 14A depicts one embodiment of a screen display related tomonitoring the content levels within each silo of a six-pack at aparticular site location. In the example illustrated, a fleet numbersuch as FLT013 is assigned to the six silos. The silos are illustratedand numbered as they are positioned relative to a blender or containerthat the components are being discharged into. A graphic representationof each silo is shown with a content level indicated on each silodepiction. Adjacent the graphic representation for each silo is a areamarked graph. If the “graph” designation is activated then a graph forthe component usage for that silo's component is displayed over aspecified time period.

FIG. 14B depicts one embodiment of a screen display related to thehistory of component usage from and input into each silo of the six packshown in FIG. 14A over a specified period of time. The user candesignate a color to the component usage graph of a particular silo, ormay select to view one graph at a time.

The regulation of the outflow of the component or ingredient from a silois typically automated as illustrated in FIG. 9A. Controlling the inflowof component, or refilling of the silo, may be performed during theoperation of the blending system. The silos 110 typically have one ormore fill tubes 112 or bucket elevators 612 running up the side of thesilo. The tubes 112 or bucket elevators 612 facilitate loading thegranular component into the silo. A loading system such as a blower, anin-feed elevator, conveyor, bucket elevator, or the like, is operativelyincorporated into fill tube 112.

One embodiment of the loading system is a pneumatic blower system. Thesilo is filled by the component supplier's truck and driver. The driverpositions the pneumatic trailer into position and attaches a hose to thefill tube(s) on the exterior of the silo. The driver then adjusts valveson the blower to move the component or ingredient from the truck intothe silo.

Another embodiment of the loading system is a bucket elevator 612 usedto deliver material loaded in the elevator boot 614 into the top of thesilos. A bucket elevator system can be incorporated inside of a largefill tube on the exterior of a silo, or the bucket elevator system 612may be a different system attached to the silo 110 instead of or inaddition to the fill tube 112. One embodiment of a bucket elevatorattached to a silo is illustrated for the silo 110 shown on the farleft-side of FIG. 6.

In preferred embodiments, each silo 110 of the modular storage system100 is equipped with a vent at the top or side of the silo 110 toprevent the accumulation of excessive pressure inside the silo 110. Forexample, each silo may be equipped with a bin vent style dust filtrationunit 114 on top of the silo. Each dust filtration unit 114 is sized toaccommodate up to four pneumatic trailers filling an individual silowith a granular component such as sand. The dust filtration unitsignificantly reduces the presence of free-floating dust on location;particularly the health hazards associated with the large amount ofsilica dust associated with filling one or more silos with sand. Thedust filtration unit 114 may be a self-cleaning unit that recycles thedust back into the silo rather than releasing it into the environment.

FIG. 9A is a flowchart illustrating a process for controlling thecontent level of components in the one or more silos in which thecomponents are stored. This process is also referred herein as a silosystem 900 that communicates with the coordinated monitoring system 1700and management system 1500 shown in FIG. 15. In certain embodiments, theprocess may be a computer-implemented process (e.g., executable on anelectronic control unit or PLCD). The electronic control system or PLCDmay implement the process by acquiring real-time operational data fromthe silo level monitors, evaluating the data against storedpredetermined component content limits, minimal and maximal limits, andoutputting appropriate control signals in the system.

As illustrated in FIG. 9A, the process includes the step of continuallymonitoring the silo contents level using silo monitors (block 910). Thesilo levels are communicated (block 912) to a visual display (block 914)and/or to a programmable logic control device (PLCD) (block 916). Thus,the PLCD constantly acquires real-time silo content level data from thesilo level monitors, evaluates the data against stored predeterminedcomponent content limits, minimal and maximal limits, and outputsappropriate control signals in the system. If the content level data iswithin the programmed prescribed limits (block 918) then the PLCD willnot initiate any change in the blending system. If on the other hand,the silo level contents pass outside of the prescribed limits (block920), then the PLCD sends an alert to the silo technician and/or thesystem operator. The silo technician or the system operator isresponsible for ensuring that the situation is addressed either manuallyby the silo technician or as instructed by the PLCD to initiaterefilling the silo (block 922), slowing the discharge from the silo(block 924) by instructing the variable frequency drives (VFDs) of theprimary, lead and secondary feeders to slow, or to automatically turnoff the lead or secondary feeder from the silo with a content leveloutside of the prescribed limits and to activate the discharge of thatcomponent from another silo (block 926).

Managing Inflow/Outflow of Blend Materials to the Blender

A schematic of one embodiment of the blending system for a two componentblend mixture as described herein is shown in FIG. 8, This embodimentincludes multiple vertically standing storage containers for storingingredients of the blend mixture on-site, a primary feeder 820 forfeeding the ingredients into the blender 810, a lead ingredient feeder835 for dispensing a predetermined quantity of a major ingredient from astorage container 110 to the primary feeder 820, one or more secondaryfeeders 830 for dispensing predetermined quantities of minor ingredientsfrom their storage containers 110 to the primary feeder 820.

One aspect of the coordination of the blender system 800 of FIG. 8, themonitoring system 1700 and the management system 1500 is outlined inFIG. 9C. The blender monitor 860 continually monitors thelevel/mass/amount of blend mixture in the blender (block 950). The levelof the blend mixture in the blender is communicated to the monitoringsystem 1700 and the management system 1500 (block 952). The managementsystem 1500, through the use of the PLCD (block 956) determines theamount of the blend mixture in the blender and compares that amount tothe desired amount of blend mixture within a predetermined limit. If theamount of blend mixture is within the predetermined limits (block 958)then the blending system continues unchanged; however, if the amount ofblend mixture falls outside of the predetermined limits (block 960) themanagement system calculates the adjustment necessary in the dispensingspeed (block 962) of the ingredients of the blend mixture to bring theamount of the blend mixture in the blender back within the predeterminedlimits and instructs the PLCD to alter the dispensing speed of theprimary, lead and secondary feeders. The management system alters thedelivery rate of the blend ingredients by instructing the PLCD toinstruct the VFD 850 of the motor that runs the primary feeder 820, theVFD 845 of the motor that runs the lead ingredient feeder 835 and theone or more VFDs 840 of the motors that run the one or more secondaryfeeders 830 to alter their speed in response to the command from themanagement system (block 964). The management system communicates thealtered delivery rate to the PLCD, the management system, and themonitoring system (block 966) and the monitoring system modifies theconveyor speeds displayed on the HMI (block 970) and/or on one or morePLCDs. The monitoring system 1700 also communicates all changes incomponent or ingredient use to the delivery system (block 968).

The feed rate of the primary feeder 820 is controlled by a feederregulator 850, the feed rate of the lead feeder 835 is controlled by afeeder regulator 845, and the feed rate of the secondary feeder 830 iscontrolled by a feeder regulator 840. A level monitor 860 tracks thelevel of material in the blender 810 or the amount of material enteringthe blender 810, wherein the level of material in the blender iscontrolled by controlling the inflow of blend materials into the blenderand the outflow of the blended material out of the blender. The inflowof the blend materials into the blender is controlled by the feed rateof the primary 820, the lead 835 and the secondary feeders 830 and theamount of material exiting the blender 810 is controlled by a outflowregulator 815 such as an auger or a pump. The system, either in whole orin part, can be controlled either manually or electronically.

The coordination of the on-site silo system 900 and blending system 800allows oil field personnel to blend two or more products with precision.This enables pressure pumpers to precisely blend products for specificwell designs that call for a blend of proppants such as a coated sand ofa specific color with another proppant, a sand that is chemically coatedwith a traceable tag to allow the proppant to be traced down hole, or ablend of proppant and other bulk solid additives for tracking proppantposition or performance. For example, the readings of the level monitor860 can be used to calculate the level/mass/amount of the blend mixturecontained in the blender at any given time and communicated to themonitoring system 1700 and the management system 1500. The calculatedlevel/mass/amount of blend mixture in the blender 810 is evaluated todetermine if it falls within predetermined limits that fit within theoverall requirements of the blend mixture for the job schedule.

FIG. 6 depicts one embodiment of three silos 110 positioned side-by-sideon a base platform 115. Also depicted are shuttle conveyors 125 whichare located under the exit ports beneath each silo 110 such that theshuttle conveyor 125 may be used to transfer material stored in one ormore silos 110 onto a dual belt conveyor 130 or other receivingmechanism that delivers the material to a container, hopper or blenderhopper 150.

FIG. 1 depicts six silos 110 vertically positioned on two separateneighboring base platforms 115 in a “six pack” configuration 100. Inbetween the two rows of three silos is a central conveyor system 130, orprimary feeder 820, that is fed by the shuttle conveyors 125, serving aslead or secondary feeders 830, 835 beneath each silo. The speed of thecentral conveyor system 130 as well as the shuttle conveyors 125 may beelectronically controlled using variable frequency drives that allowsfor the remote control of variations in the speeds of the conveyors. Thecentral conveyor system 130 is used to transport the material stored inthe silos 110 into a container, storage bin, hopper or blender hopper150. Any number of silos can be employed at the site by addingadditional six pack configurations such as illustrated in FIG. 7.

In preferred embodiments, the blending system 800 illustrated in FIG. 8is designed to maintain a constant level and supply of component (whichis adjustable) from the one or more silos to the blender 810 that feedsan on-site operation, such as a frac job. Since the system is designedto monitor granular solids or proppant amounts in real time, the systemcan furnish the rate at which one or more components are being removedfrom one or more silos, as well as the rate of ingredient delivery intothe blender originating from the one or more silos.

In order to maintain an efficient on-site operation, it is necessary tocontrol the rate that the blended composition, or proppant, is beingremoved from the blender and to balance that exit rate with the ratethat the various components are being delivered to the blender. The exitrate of the blended material may controlled by a variety of regulatabledispensers. Basically, the same process can be used to control the exitrate of the blended material from the blender as is used to control theentry rate of the blend ingredients into the blender as shown in FIG.9C. For example, augers, discharge chutes, vibratory dispensers, pumpsor conveyors having adjustable speeds can provide a regulatable feedrate from zero to a predetermined maximum flow of the blended materialfrom the blender. Regulatable blender control devices such as an augeruse a machine to run the blender control device 815. Thus the exit rateof the blended material from the blender can be adjusted by adjustingthe variable frequency drive (VFD) of the motor used to run the blendercontrol device. If an auger is used to dispense the blender materialfrom the blender, then the speed of the motor that turns the augercontrols the exit rate of the blended material from the blender. If themanagement system 1500 determines that the level of the blendedmaterials in the blender is outside the predetermined limits (block 960)then the management system calculates the adjustment necessary in thedispensing speed (block 962) of the blend mixture from the blenderneeded to bring the amount of the blend mixture in the blender backwithin the predetermined limits. The management system then instructsthe PLCD to alter the dispensing speed of the blender control device byinstructing the VFD of the motor that runs the blender control device815 to alter its speed in response to the command from the managementsystem (block 964). The management system communicates the alteredblender exit rate to the monitoring system (block 966) and themonitoring system modifies the blender exit rate as displayed on one ormore computing devices (PLCDs). The monitoring system also communicatesall changes in the blend component usage to the delivery system.

In a frac job, for example, a large amount of the blended proppant iscontinuously being pumped into the well from the blender so in orderthat the frac job is not interrupted due to the unavailability of theblended proppant, the rate at which each component of the blendedproppant is released from the silos and delivered into the blender andout of the blender must be carefully regulated. In certain embodiments,flow of components from each silo is controlled using detectors and isautomated by a programmable logic control device (PLCD).

The central or primary feeder 820, the lead ingredient feeder 835, andthe secondary feeders 830 may be a variety of regulatable dispensers.For example, discharge chutes, gate valves, vibratory dispensers, augersor conveyors having adjustable speeds that can provide a regulatablefeed rate from zero to a predetermined maximum flow of a particularcomponent from a silo.

Conveyors, such as the central conveyor or shuttle conveyors describedabove, serve as preferred primary and secondary feeders since they movematerial, such as sand or other solid granular material, horizontally.This allows a lower overall installed height than using conventionalinclined chutes or augers. Variable frequency drives are optionallyinstalled to allow control of the speed of the shuttle and centralconveyors and thus the component feed rate.

Shuttle conveyors 125 are preferred secondary and lead feeders 830, 835.The shuttle conveyor is reversible to allow discharging material fromeither side of the silo. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a shuttle conveyor125 is typically positioned below each silo 110 on the base platform115. The speed of the conveyor is remotely controlled via a digitalelectronic system, providing precise control of the discharge rate tomatch the required flow of the site operation.

A preferred embodiment of the primary or central feeder 820 is a dualbelt conveyor 130. The dual belt conveyor and the shuttle conveyorstypically have variable frequency drives (VFD) or other feederregulators. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 8, one or more shuttle conveyors 125(the secondary and lead feeders 830, 835 respectively) can feedcomponents onto the central conveyor 130 (the primary feeder 820). Thegentle transitions of the components from the shuttle conveyors to thedual belt conveyor limit the sifting segregation of the blend materialsas they are dispensed from the silos 110 to the blender 150. A thoroughmixing of all of the blend materials or components is performeddownstream in the blender 150 where liquid is added before the blendedmaterials are typically removed from the blender by pumping the blendedmaterials into a well site.

The quantity of each blend component dispensed from a silo 110 to asecondary or lead feeder 830, 835 and to the primary or central feeder820 is controlled by regulating the feeder regulator 840 of thesecondary feeder 830, the regulator 845 of the lead feeder 835 and thefeeder regulator 850 of the primary or central feeder 820 in order toincrease or slow their output speeds. The level of blend material in theblender 810 is used to balance the inflow and the outflow of thematerial in the blender. Thus, the level of material in the blender isimportant and is continuously monitored either by a designated operatoror automatically by a level monitor 860 positioned at the end of theprimary feeder to monitor the level of material in the blender or tomonitor the quantity of material that drops into the blender.

The blender level monitor 860 may be a sonic, radar, optical, inductiveor mechanical level monitor. Preferred embodiments use a level sensinglaser, a guided wave radar, a non-contact radar, or a pulsed radardevice to constantly monitor the level of material in the blender. Themonitoring device or level transmitter will communicate the blenderlevel to the monitoring system and to the management system. Themanagement system adjust the speed of the feeder regulators on thesecondary, lead and primary feeders in order to increase or slow theirspeeds so that the level of material in the blender is adjusted andcontrolled. Similarly, the level of blend material in the blender canalso be controlled by adjusting the speed of the outflow of blendedmaterial by adjusting the speed of the blender control device 815. Thissystem can be wireless or Ethernet cable connected.

In certain embodiments, the storage and blending process may be acomputer-implemented process (e.g., executable on the electronic controlsystem or PLCD). The electronic control system or PLCD may implement theprocess by acquiring real-time operational data from the blender leveltransmitter 860, evaluating the quantity of component outflow from theblender and balancing the rate of inflow of components into the blenderwith the rate of outflow of the blended mixture from the blender 810.This balancing on inflow and outflow is achieved by controlling thedispensing of each component into the blender by the feedback regulationof the speed of dissemination of each component from a silo withincertain predetermined limits and outputting appropriate control signalsto the VFDs of the primary and secondary feeders to speed up, slow downor stop the speed of the feeders and therefore the rate of dispensing ofthe components into the blender to match the outflow of the componentsfrom the blender. The rate of outflow of the blended components from theblender can also be increased, slowed down or stopped by controlling theremoval rate from the blender. The electronic control system or PLCD cancontrol the blender outflow rate according to the weight of material inthe blender or by setting predetermined limits on the level of materialin the blender.

As illustrated in FIG. 9B, the process includes the step of determiningthe desired blend of components (block 930). Checking the on-siteinventory (block 932) to ensure that sufficient quantities of eachcomponent in the multiple component blend is either on-site or within anarea close enough to reach the site in time to fulfill the quantitiesneeded to complete the on-site operation.

The calculated proportion of the desired blend components is enteredinto the data residing on the PLCD (block 934) and used to program therate of release of each component from the silo containing thatcomponent (block 936). The release rate of each component is used tocalculate the desired feeder rate to provide the desired rate ofdispensing that component from the appropriate silo. The PLCD theninstructs the setting of the VFD 845 to set the lead feeder speed (block937) and the VFD 840 to set the secondary feeder speed (block 938) tothe calculated feeder rate. The PLCD also calculates the desireddelivery speed of the components into the blender 810 and instructs theautomatic setting of the VFD 850 of the primary feeder 820 to run theprimary feeder at the desired speed (block 942).

As shown in FIG. 9C, the blender level monitor and transmitter 860continuously monitors the level of material in the blender (bloc 950)and continuously communicates the material level in the blender to themonitoring system, the management system and the PLCD (bloc 952). Thus,the PLCD constantly acquires real-time blender material level data fromthe blender level monitor 860. The PLCD may display this information onany PLCD visual display and/or on the human machine interface (bloc 970)connected to the PLCD (bloc 956).

The PLCD will evaluate the acquired blender level data against storedpredetermined allowable limits on the level of the blender contents. Ifthe level of the blender contents is within the prescribed limits (bloc958) then no adjustment of the component dispensing speed is necessary.However, if the level of blender contents is above or below theprescribed limits (bloc 960), then the PLCD will immediately calculatethe desired changes in the dispensing speed of each component and/or therate of outflow of the blended material from the blender (bloc 962) andinstruct the speed regulator of the dispenser of each component to alterthe dispensing speed of each component to the desired speed and/orinstruct the blender control device to alter the exit rate of theblended material from the blender (bloc 964) so that the inflow ofcomponents into the blender is carefully controlled. Any changes to thedispensing speed of a component or of the blended material is thencommunicated to the PLCD, the management system, and the monitoringsystem (bloc 966) which then communicates those changes to any visualdisplay of the speeds and to the delivery system.

One embodiment of the blending and storage system includes a single orgroup of small, modular storage vessels that could be physicallyinstalled on top of the primary feeder or central conveyor. In somecases a bulk solid chemical may have a very low dose rate and requires amuch smaller inventory than the typical full size silo. In thisembodiment, the small bulk tank(s) would typically utilize a dispensersuch as a small volumetric screw conveyor, a small vibratory feeder orshuttle conveyor to discharge its contents to the primary feeder. ThePLCD would regulate the discharge rate of these small storage vessels byregulating the motor speed of the dispenser.

An Example of a Two Component Blend

FIG. 10 shows a schematic of a preferred embodiment of the storage andblending process for a two component blend 1000 using a 12-pack systemas shown in FIG. 7. The operator 1005 of the blending process managesthe storage and blending system at a human machine interface (HMI) 1010that is interfaced and in communication with the monitoring system, themanagement system, and the PLCD that controls the various aspects of theprocess. Before initiating the blending process 1000, the operator 1005determines the desired blend for the site operation. For a two componentblend, the operator determines the identity and the ratio of the twocomponents to be blended.

The component added in the larger quantity to the blend is typicallydesignated the primary or major component and the component added in thesmaller quantity is designated the secondary or minor component. Forexample, the operator may want to pump 200,000 pounds of a primary rawproppant with a 5.0% blend of a secondary coated proppant. The ratio ofthe two components would be 20:1 raw:coated or primary:secondary. Thisinformation is entered into the PLED at the HMI 1010.

The variable discharge or exit port of the silos holding the primary rawproppant and the secondary coated proppant are set to allow thedischarge flow from the two silos to be significantly different. Thus,if flow of component through the exit ports of the two silos arecontrolled via mechanical choke gates, then the choke gate of theprimary component silo might be set for 5 inches and the choke gate ofthe secondary component silo would have a smaller setting of maybe 0.5inches. The choke gate settings for the two silos holding the twocomponents (i.e., silo 1020 for the primary raw proppant and silo 1030for the secondary coated proppant) are entered into the HMI 1010.

The operator navigates to the main screen on the HMI, illustrated inFIG. 11, that is used to control the blending process. The operatorenters the percentage of the components desired in the blend, as well asthe choke gate settings on the HMI. The operator then turns on thecentral conveyors 1040A, 1040B and 1040C at 100% speed. The operatorselects the primary silo 1030 and the secondary silo 1020 based on thecomponent contained therein. The rate of inflow of material into theblender 1050 is controlled by governing the speed of the centralconveyors and the shuttle conveyors. In this embodiment, the level ofmaterial in the blender is monitored by the operator, who will eitherspeed up or slow down the speed of the conveyor belts to control thecontent level within the blender.

Basically the operator will control the level of material in the blenderby either increasing or decreasing the speed of the primary shuttleconveyor 1035 on silo 1030. The PLCD then calculates a remote set pointfor the appropriate speed for the central conveyors 1040A-C and thesecondary shuttle conveyor 1025 based on the operator's input of thechoke gate opening for the primary silo 1030 and the secondary silo1020, as well as the desired blend ratio in decimals.

The PLCD calculates the belt rate of the conveyors based on the realtime belt speed of the primary shuttle conveyor 1035 and the gear ratiosbetween the primary conveyors 1040A-C and the secondary shuttleconveyors 1025 and 1035. The PLCD calculates the remote set point (RSP)in Hertz for the VFDs of the conveyors. The basic calculation performedby the PLCD is as follows:RSP₁₀₂₅=RSP₁₀₃₅ ×F _(HZ)×[BR/(C ₁₀₂₀ /C ₁₀₃₀)]×F _(GR)

where the RSP of the Secondary Shuttle 1025 (RSP₁₀₂₅)=RSP of the PrimaryShuttle 1035 (RSP₁₀₃₅)×a Factor to convert the percentage Belt Speedinto Hertz (F_(HZ))×the Blend Ratio (BR) divided by the ratio of theChoke Gate Openings for the Secondary Silo 1020 (C₁₀₂₀) and the PrimarySilo 1030 (C₁₀₃₀)×a Factor accounting for the difference in the gearratio between the Primary Shuttle 1035 and the Secondary Shuttle 1025(F_(GR)).

Whenever, the PLCD calculates a change that needs to be made in thespeed of the shuttle and central conveyors, the PLCD instructs the VFD1042 of the motors that run the central conveyors 1040A-C, the VFD 1024of the motor that runs the secondary shuttle conveyor 1025, and the VFD1034 of the motor that runs the primary shuttle conveyor 1035 to altertheir speeds in direct response to the blender level and the real timebelt speed of the primary shuttle conveyor 1035.

The calculated results are automatically used to adjust the secondaryshuttle 1025 speed and the speed of the central conveyors 1040A-C. FIG.11 shows one embodiment of main screen on the HMI and its displayedsettings for the blending system 1000 illustrated in FIG. 10. In theexample shown in FIG. 11, the operator has selected silo 1030 (numberedsilo 6 on the main screen) to provide the raw proppant, or primarycomponent, and silo 1020 (numbered silo 9 on the main screen) to providethe coated proppant, or secondary component. The operator has input adesired blend ratio of 5.00% of the coated to the raw proppant andentered the primary choke gate at 5.0 inches and the secondary chokegate at 0.5 inches. As the operator manages the level of material in theblender, the belt speed of the primary shuttle conveyor has reached 45%.The PLCD has calculated and sent a remote set point of 21.03% (or 12.617Hz) to the central belt conveyors and the secondary shuttle conveyor.

Alternatively, the blending process may include a level monitor andtransmitter over the blender. The level monitor may be any monitoringdevice such as a laser, non-contact radar, guided wave radar or similardevice to monitor the appropriate level in the blender with setpredetermined limits. Thus, whenever the level in the blender goesoutside of either an upper or lower predetermined limit the PLCD willautomatically recalculate a desired speed for the central conveyors andthe primary and secondary shuttle conveyors. The recalculated remote setpoints are sent to the VFDs of the motors running the central conveyorsand the primary and secondary shuttle conveyors. By resetting the VFDs,the speed of the central and shuttle conveyors are reset to adjust thematerial level in the blender to within the predetermined limits. Theblending process 1000 can deliver up to 30,000 pounds per minute ofproppant or blend mixture to the blender.

Another embodiment, of the blender system 1000 includes a silo monitor1032 for the primary silo 1030 and a silo monitor 1022 for the secondarysilo 1020. The use of silo monitoring within the blending process isdescribed in more detail below.

An Example of a Seven Component Blend

FIG. 12 shows a schematic of one embodiment of the storage and blendingprocess 1200 for a seven component blend using the 12-pack system shownin FIG. 7. The operator monitors the progress of the blending process1200 at the human machine interface (HMI) 1210 that is interfaced withand in communication with the PLCD that controls the various aspects ofthe process. Before initiating the blending process 1200, the operatordetermines the desired blend for the site operation. For a sevencomponent blend, the operator determines the identity and the percentagecomposition of the seven components to be blended. The component addedin the largest quantity to the blend is typically designated the leadcomponent and the desired amount of the other six components to be addedis calculated in relationship to the amount of the lead component beingadded. Furthermore, the secondary shuttle speeds of the six non-leadcomponents are calculated with respect to the primary shuttle speed ofthe lead component as illustrated in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Component Lead A B C D E F % of Blend 78% 5.00% 2.50% 1.00%1.50% 7.00% 5.00% Blend Ratio to Lead NA 6.41% 3.21% 1.28% 1.92% 8.97%6.41% Component Shuttle Choke Gate (inches) 5 0.5 0.25 0.25 0.25 0.5 0.5Shuttle Speed 45% 28.8% 28.8% 11.5% 17.3% 40.4% 28.8%

For example, the operator may want to pump 200,000 pounds of themulti-component blend mixture comprising 156,000 pounds of the leadcomponent; 10,000 pounds of components A and F; 5,000 pounds ofcomponent B; 2,000 pounds of component C; 3,000 pounds of component D;and 14,000 pounds of component E. The ratio of component A to the leadcomponent would be 5:78 or 6.41%. Similarly the ratios of components A,B, C, D, E, and F are calculated by the PLCD and displayed on the HMIfor the operator's reference.

The opening of the choke gate for each silo holding the lead componentand the secondary components A, B, C, D, E, and F is entered into thePLCD. The opening of the choke gate for each silo may be set manually,or it may be set automatically if the choke gate, or releasing device onthe exit port of the silos, has a variable opening that can beelectronically controlled.

The operator then turns on the central conveyors 1280A, 1280B and 1280Cat 100% speed. The operator then selects the primary or lead silo 1250containing the lead component. Secondary silo 1220 containing componentA, silo 1225 containing component C, silo 1230 containing component D,silo 1235 containing component F, silo 1240 containing component E, andsilo 1245 containing component B are selected based on their respectivecontents. The PLCD calculates the desired belt rate of all of theconveyors based on the real time belt speed of the lead shuttle conveyor1257 associated with silo 1250 that contains the lead component and thegear ratios between the central conveyors 1280A-C and the secondaryshuttle conveyors 1227, 1229, 1237, 1239, 1247 and 1249. The PLCDcalculates remote set points (RSPs) in Hertz for each of the VFDs of themotors that run the conveyor belts.

The basic calculation performed by the PLCD for each of the secondaryshuttle conveyors is as follows:RSP_(SEC)=RSP_(LEAD) ×F _(H)×[BR/(C _(SEC) /C _(LEAD))]×F _(GR)

where the RSP of each Secondary Shuttle (RSP_(SEC))=RSP of the LeadSecondary Shuttle 1257 (RSP_(LEAD))×a Factor to convert the percentagebelt speed into Hertz (F_(H))×the Blend Ratio (BR) for the componentassociated with the secondary shuttle divided by the ratio of the ChokeGate Openings for the Secondary Silo (C_(SEC)) and the Lead Silo 1250(C_(LEAD)))×a Factor accounting for the difference in the gear ratiosbetween the Lead Shuttle 1257 and the Secondary Shuttle (F_(GR)).

The calculated results are automatically used to adjust the belt speedof the secondary shuttles 1227, 1259, 1237, 1239, 1247 and 1249 and thecentral conveyors 1280A-C. When the level of the blending material inthe blender reaches a point that falls within the prescribed limits, thebelt speed of the primary lead shuttle conveyor 1257 should have reachedabout 45%. Then the PLCD calculates a remote set point for of thecentral and secondary shuttle conveyors. The calculated remote set pointis sent to each of the central and secondary shuttle conveyors (e.g.,28.8% to the secondary shuttles of the silos containing components A, Band F).

The level of material flowing into the blender 1290 is controlled bygoverning the speed of the central and the shuttle conveyors. The levelof material in the blender is monitored by a blender level monitor 1292that transmits the real time blender levels to the PLCD. The levelmonitor may be any monitoring device such as a laser, non-contact radar,guided wave radar or similar device to monitor the appropriate level inthe blender with set predetermined limits. Thus whenever the level inthe blender goes outside of either an upper or lower limit, the PLCDautomatically calculates a desired speed for the central and secondaryconveyors that will bring the level of material in the blender backwithin the prescribed limits. The PLCD calculates a remote set point foreach motor 1282, 1284 running the central conveyors, the motor 1254running the lead shuttle conveyor, and the motors 1224, 1228, 1234,1238, 1244, 1248 running the secondary shuttle conveyors. The PLCDtransmits the calculated RSP to each motor and instructs the VFDs ofthose motors to reset the speed of the central and shuttle conveyors toadjust the material level in the blender to within the prescribedlimits. Thus the PLCD instructs the VFDs of the lead shuttle conveyor1257, the secondary shuttle conveyors 1227, 1229, 1237, 1239, 1247 and1249, and the central conveyors 1280A-C to alter their speeds in directresponse to the blender level.

Another embodiment, of the blender system 1200 includes a silo monitorand transmitter for each silo: monitor 1252 for the lead silo, monitor1222 for silo 1220, monitor 1226 for silo 1225, monitor 1232 for silo1230, monitor 1236 for silo 1235, monitor 1242 for silo 1240, andmonitor 1246 for silo 1245. The use of silo monitoring within theblending process is described in more detail below.

Delivery System

One aspect of the delivery, storage and blending system includesdetermining a job schedule 1630 based on the desired blend mixture andthe exit rate of the blend mixture from the blender. The job scheduleincludes a system for determining the total amount of each ingredientneeded for the project, the defined time intervals of the on-siteingredient requirement for a particular project, the availability of theingredient at an off-site storage facility 1650, the availability of atruck or tractor trailer 1610 loaded with a specific ingredient, thedelivery time for the ingredient from the off-site storage facility tothe on-site project, the ingredient fill time from the tractor trailerinto the on-site storage container 110, and the impact of the specifiedblend mixture on the exit rate of the ingredient from on-site storagecontainers on the on-site ingredient requirement. One example of typicalentries needed to determine a job schedule employed in the deliverysystem 1600 is shown in Table 2.

TABLE 2 Example Entries for Determining Job Schedule Ingredient DeliveryTime to Site (mins) 90 mins Ingredient Delivery Time into On-SiteStorage (mins) 45 mins Tractor Trailer Ingredient Capacity (lbs) 47,000lbs Blender Maximum Flow Rate (lbs/min) 15,000 lbs/min % of % of Qty ofIngre- Blend Blend Ingredient Start Duration dient Mix- Liquid Mix-Required Stage Time (minutes) Type ture Type ture (lbs) 1 1:00 pm 5 10010 xxx 90 10000 30 100 15 xxx 85 45000 25 100 20 xxx 80 35000 15 100 10xxx 90 25000 15 100 5 xxx 95 5000 2 3:30 pm

Once an on-site operations project is contracted, a logistics program isused to calculate a logistics plan of component requirements needed overtime (i.e., estimated lbs per minute or hour for each ingredient neededto implement the on-site project). For example, the logistics programwill calculate a list of components and the total amount of eachcomponent needed for the project, the one or more silos assigned tostore each component, the total on-site storage capacity for eachcomponent, the discharge rate of each component from its assigned silos,and the component level limits set for alerts. The logistics program iscomputer implemented and the program will communicate with and beinterfaced with the control and management of the ingredient inventory1670. For example, the logistics program will calculate maximum andminimum limits for each component in its designated silos and estimatethe timing of component usage based on the discharge rate andanticipated reloading of that component required over time during thesite operation, such as a fracking operation. Thus, the logisticsprogram can estimate the tittles at which one or more trucks of aparticular component will be needed to refill specified storagecontainers.

The component usage is programmed as a function of the rate of dischargethrough the discharge device (such as the shuttle belt speed if thedischarge unit is a conveyor), the level of the component in the silo,the bulk/density (lb/ft³) of the component, the tables used to convertsilo level and the bulk density to the lbs of component used per unit oftime, whether the component was loaded into or offloaded from the siloat its last two level readings, and the time. For example, if thedischarge rate of the component through the discharge device is greaterthan zero, the silo is in operation and the component is beingdischarged; however if the discharge rate is less than or equal to zerothen the silo is not in operation and the component is not beingdischarged. The rate of component discharge is based on the speed ofdischarge set for the discharge device.

The level of component in each silo is calculated by the PLCD based onthe readings provided by the silo monitor 880. The level is reported asthe percentage of the silo that is full of component. The determinationof the difference in component level in a particular silo between twoconsecutive level readings determines whether the component is beingadded to the silo, creating an ascending cone with an ascending angle ofrepose, or whether the component is being discharged from the silo,creating a descending cone with a descending angle of repose. The angleof repose of the component in the silo is determined based on ananalysis of a minimum of two previously-logged silo levels. Since thesilo monitor is mounted at a set position within the silo, knowingwhether the component has an ascending or a descending cone and theangle of repose of the cone will allow a set angle of repose to bedetermined and used to determine the level of component in the silo.

The bulk/density is a characteristic of both the mesh size and the typeof granular component (e.g., Northern White 100 mesh Brady Brown 40/70mesh). The component assigned to a particular silo has a certain meshsize (i.e., a silo contains only one mesh size and that mesh size is notchanged throughout the site operation). If the same component of adifferent mesh size is used, it will be assigned to another silo. Themesh size and the type of component will be entered into the HMI 1310and used to calculate the bulk density of the component. The bulkdensity (lbs/ft³) of the component and the volume (ft³) of the componentin the silo is used to determine the pounds of component in the silo.

The system snapshots all raw data from the field, including the contentlevel of each silo, at designated time intervals. The level readings andthe calculated number of pounds of component usage are recorded inminutes and hours requiring a roll-up of multiple raw data readings.Using a combination of an average of readings and a predeterminedthreshold for a maximum amount of change within a designated interval,errant level readings are identified as outlier values in the dischargerate of a component from a silo.

Typically, a job schedule 1630 is outlined that calculates the totalamount of each ingredient needed for the job based on the totalrequirement of the blend mixture needed, the percentage of eachingredient in the blend mixture, and the exit rate of the blend mixturefrom the blender. The job schedule 1630 also takes into considerationthe amount of the ingredient that can be carried in a tractor trailer1610, the number of tractor trailers that are required to provide thetotal amount of ingredient needed for the job, the travel time form theremote storage location 1650 to the well site, and the time needed totransfer the ingredient from the tractor trailer to the designatedstorage container for the ingredient.

To facilitate the implementation of the job schedule, a continuouslyupdated list or truck inventory 1620 is kept of tractor trailers 1610and each tractor trailer ingredient manifest. The truck inventory 1620includes a continually updated list of the tractor trailers 1610 thatare available to transport an ingredient from the off-site storage 1650to the on-site storage container 110 at any given time and which tractortrailers are loaded with which ingredient (the tractor trailer manifest)and how much of that ingredient. The truck inventory list 1620 alsoincludes which drivers with available driving hours are on duty and thetravel time from the off-site storage site to the on-site storagecontainer, as well as the type of equipment available on each tractortrailer for downloading the ingredient from the tractor trailer into theon-site storage container.

The delivery system data 1600 is continually updated and communicated tovarious components of the delivery, storage and blending system.Illustrative examples of such interaction are: the truck inventory list1620 is communicated to the delivery system 1600, the monitoring system1700 and the management system 1500, the level/mass/amount of theingredient contained in specific tractor trailers is submitted to themonitoring system 1700 and the management system 1600, the duration oftime required for each tractor trailer to travel from the off-sitestorage to the on-site storage containers is submitted to the monitoringsystem and the management system, the duration of time required toupload an ingredient from a tractor trailer into the designated on-sitestorage container 110 is submitted to the monitoring system and themanagement system. The management system processes requests to alter thetruck inventory list 1620 and then alters the truck inventory listaccordingly, the management system also alters the truck inventory listwhenever a delivery of a specified ingredient to the on-site storagecontainer has been completed. The management system anticipates the needfor more ingredient to be delivered to the site and processes requeststo select a tractor trailer from the truck inventory list 1620 todeliver ingredient to the well site by analyzing data on availabledriver hours, current location of the tractor trailer, and themaintenance status of the tractor trailer.

Coordination of the Delivery, Storage and Blending Systems

The Monitoring System. The monitoring system 1700 collects and displaysinformation from the delivery system 1600, the blender system 800, thesilo system 900 and the management system 1500 and communicates theinformation collected from one system to all of the other relevantsystems. The monitoring system in conjunction with the management systemprovides a mechanism for altering the delivery system (e.g., alteringthe inventory or job schedule), the ingredient inventory 1670, the silosystem and/or the blender system either digitally through a PLCD, theon-site HMI, or as requested by a person.

For example, the monitoring of the silo system measures the silocontents on a real time basis. Such real time measurements are usefulfor inventory management, determining and controlling the rate of usage,and avoiding over filling or unexpected empty conditions. Each silo 110may contain one or more devices for monitoring the level of theircontents. The monitoring devices may be sonic, radar, optical, inductiveor mechanical level monitors.

Likewise, monitoring the blender system to ensure a balance in theinflow and outflow of the blend materials from the blender. If thelevel/mass/amount of blend material in the blender is determined to beoutside the defined limits, a request is submitted to the managementsystem to modify the delivery rate of the blend mixture to the blenderor to alter the outflow of materials from the blender using a processexemplified in FIG. 9C. If the inflow of material into the blender is tobe altered, the management system correlates the level of adjustmentneeded to the calibrated delivery rate and instructs the PLCD 956 toalter the speed (i.e., turn off, speed up, or slow) of a shuttle and/orcentral conveyor for a selected storage container. For example in thetwo component blend sample exemplified in FIG. 8, the PLCD instructs theVFD 850 of the motor that runs the central conveyor 820 and the VFDs840, 845 of the motors that run the lead ingredient and shuttleconveyors 830, 835 to alter their speed in direct response to thecommand from the management system and the real time belt speed of theconveyors 840, 845. Similarly, if the outflow of material out of theblender is to be altered, the management system calculates theadjustment needed to the calibrated blend material outflow or exit rateand instructs the PLCD 956 to alter (i.e., stop, speed up, or slow down)the speed of the blender control device. The management systemcommunicates the altered inflow/outflow rates to the monitoring systemwhich then modifies the corresponding rate changes displayed on one ormore PLCD screens as well as communicates all rate changes to thedelivery system (block 968). All rate changes affect the usage rate ofthe blend ingredients necessitating modifications in the ingredientinventory 1670 and the job schedule 1630. All rate changes, truckinventory and ingredient inventory changes are submitted to themonitoring system and the management system. The management systemprocesses requests to alter the truck inventory list 1620 and thenalters the truck inventory list accordingly, the management system alsoalters the truck inventory list whenever a delivery is made.

FIGS. 9C and 13 are schematic illustrations of the blending processsteps and of the information flow in the PLCD-based operating system andprocess. The process includes the step of continually monitoring thecontent level of the silos 110 and the blender 810 with level monitors880 and 860 respectively. The PLCD-based technology may implement theprocess at least partially by interfacing with a plurality of devicesdistributed throughout the system. The monitors may be configured todynamically measure, sense, and/or otherwise determine the contentlevels of the silos and the blender. The real time content level data isprocessed and used to generate instructive signals that are transmittedto the devices within the system in order to maintain their operationwithin preset limits of optimal performance.

The monitoring system also dynamically communicates with a tractortrailer monitoring device that monitors the amount of an ingredientcontained in the tractor trailer rig at any one time, the travel timefor the tractor trailer to travel from the off-site storage facility tothe on-site storage container, and the required time to deliver theingredient from the tractor trailer into the storage container.

The Management System. The management system includes (a) one or morecomputer processors; (b) one or more computer readable storage devices,wherein the one or more computer readable storage devices are nottransitory signals; and (c) program instructions stored on at least oneof the one or more computer readable storage devices for execution by atleast one of the one or more computer processors, the programinstructions comprising: (i) program instructions for continuouslyevaluating a level, a mass or an amount of an ingredient stored in oneor more designated silos; (ii) program instructions for continuouslyevaluating a level, a mass or an amount of a predetermined blend mixturein a blender; (iii) program instructions for submitting a request to ablender system to adjust a delivery rate or an exit rate of the blendmixture into or out of the blender; and (iv) program instructions forsubmitting a request to a silo system to adjust a delivery rate of oneor more ingredients from the one or more silos into the blender.

The management system also includes program instructions for receivingand processing a job schedule including: (a) the blend mixturecontaining a controlled quantity of each ingredient in a set ofingredients and an outflow rate of the blend mixture from a blender; (b)a total amount of each ingredient required for a job; (c) a load amountof each ingredient carried in a tractor trailer for delivery of theingredient to a well site; (d) a total number of the tractor trailersrequired to complete the job; and (e) a delivery time for transportingthe tractor trailers from a remote storage facility to the well site andloading the load amount of the ingredient into the designated silo.

The management system 1500 is calibrated with a pre-operation test suchthat a person activates the blender, and interacts with the HMI todeliver ingredient from each silo 110 at a pre-determined rate for apre-determined duration of time. For each time interval during whichingredient is delivered to the blender, the blender communicates to themanagement system an indication of whether the level/mass/amount ofingredient measured by the blender monitor is above or below apre-determined level/mass/amount. The calibration establishes a directrelationship between the level/mass/amount of ingredient measured by theblender monitor to the speed of the shuttle and central conveyors andthe position of the silo 110 relative to the blender hopper 150.

A user inputs the job schedule 1630 into the management system 1500. Thejob schedule may be in the form of an electronic document or may beinput through a computer interface. The management system electronicallycommunicates the job schedule 1630 to the blender system 800 and themonitoring system 1700 through an Ethernet cable, a satellite connectionor a cellular connection.

The management system 1500 may parse the job schedule 1630 and thecalibration data and calculate/build/create an ingredient inventory 1670that is utilized to forecast when, what type and what quantities ofadditional ingredient will be required from the remote storage facility1650. The ingredient inventory forecast may be presented on a computerand/or handheld device screen. In one embodiment of the invention, themanagement system calculates/builds/creates in real-time an ingredientinventory forecast for a defined duration of time; for example, for thenext two stages of ingredient delivery as defined by the job schedule.

In one embodiment of the system, an operator may activate execution ofthe job schedule by clicking on a button on a computer screen with alabel indicating “Begin Schedule” or “Execute Schedule” or “Start” wherethe button may be an element of the computer program that is part of themonitoring system. In response to the operator activating execution ofthe job schedule, the blender instructs the blender control device tobegin the outflow of the blend materials. The management systeminstructs the PLCD to activate the VFD and the central conveyor at thespeed commensurate with the calibrated delivery rate to cause thedelivery of ingredient to be within the limits defined in the jobschedule.

If the blender determines the level/mass/amount of ingredient is outsidethe defined limits, it submits a request to the management system tomodify the delivery rate. The management system correlates the level ofadjustment needed to the calibrated delivery rate and instructs the PLCD1300 to alter the speed of the shuttle and central conveyor for aselected storage container, the PLCD instructs the VFD 1042 of themotors that run the central conveyors 1040A-C and the VFD 1034 of themotor that runs the shuttle conveyor 1035 to alter their speed in directresponse to the command from the management system and the real timebelt speed of the shuttle conveyor 1035. The management systemcommunicates the altered delivery rate to the monitoring system, themonitoring system modifies the corresponding speed value displayed onthe computer screen.

The management system continuously evaluates the information supplied bythe monitoring system on the level/mass/amount of material in theblender, the level/mass/amount of ingredient in each storage container,the quantity and type of ingredient listed on each tractor trailer andthe duration of time needed for each ingredient delivery. The monitoringsystem in conjunction with the management system continuously compareslevel/mass/amount of ingredient in each storage container and thequantity and type of ingredient at a remote storage site, loaded on anoperating tractor trailer, and any tractor trailers en route to deliveringredient to the job schedule. The management system submits a requestto the delivery system for the delivery of a specific ingredientwhenever the amount of on-site ingredient is below the limits defined bythe job schedule, Thus, the management system continuously evaluates atotal amount of each ingredient available at the well site, a totalamount of each ingredient available at a remote storage facility, and adelivery time needed to truck a load of each ingredient from the remotestorage facility to the on-site ingredient storage container such thatwhenever the amount of the ingredient available at the well site fallsoutside of predetermined limits the management system request thedelivery system to select a tractor trailer from truck inventory todeliver the ingredient to the well site.

Alternatively, the management system builds an inventory forecast basedupon the estimated delivery times and the job schedule. The managementsystem continuously compares actual ingredient inventory to the forecastinventory and submits a request to the delivery system for delivery ofingredient when the available on-site ingredient is below limits definedby the inventory forecast.

Interaction of the Monitoring and Management Systems. Preferredembodiments of the monitoring system 1700 and the management system1500, shown in FIG. 16, constantly communicate with the delivery system1600, the silo system 900 and the blender system 800 and authorizedusers 1630, 1640. The monitoring system and/or the management systempreferred embodiments include diversified communications equipmentallowing the monitoring system and/or the management system tocommunicate with the Internet and/or an Ethernet 1620. The monitoringsystem 1700 and/or the management system 1500 typically include at leastone of the following communication devices: a switch to connect to acellular antenna or a satellite antenna, a satellite antenna or acellular antenna to communicate via a cellular communication tower. Themonitoring system is designed to establish and maintain communicationswith the Internet and/or an Ethernet 1620 and all authorized users.

Generally, authorized users fall into different categories with accessto different data. For example, authorized data users 1640 include allon-site operation personnel that may have access to all the raw fielddata, the calculated data, and the logged historical data over the timeof that particular site operation. Another example of an authorized datauser might be the employees or administrators of a service company orcomponent supplier. Like the on-site operation personnel, the serviceprovider personnel may have access to all the raw field data, thecalculated data, and the logged historical data over the time of thatparticular site operation; however, the service provider personnel mayalso have access to the delivery system information such as theinventory of tractor trailers, off-site ingredient supplies and deliveryschedules. Only authorized users categorized as authorized operators1640 can create or modify the data and/or system parameters such asaltering the job schedule.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the above figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrationsand/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computerprogram instructions. These computer program instructions may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce amachine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor ofthe computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, createmeans for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchartand/or block diagram block or blocks.

In certain preferred embodiments, the management system 1500 illustratedin FIG. 15 provides for the automatic coordination and control of thedelivery system 1600, the monitoring system 1700, the silo system 900,and the blending system 800. Thus, the management system 1500 providesfor the automatic control and regulation of the blending and flow ofgranular solid components from the storage containers to the hopper orblender. The management system 1500 includes one or more pre-setprograms that allow for modifications and options determined by on-siteconditions at the site operation and the input of real time systemvariables.

The operating technology of the management system and the monitoringsystem is PLCD-based and removes the need to have visual monitoring ofthe silos, primary and secondary feeders, and the blender. ThePLCD-based operating technology reduces the number of techniciansrequired at a given site location and the costly side effects ofpotential human mistakes. Preferred embodiments of the automated storageand blending system only requires one technician to operate the entireon-site system, whereas conventional systems require up to six on-sitetechnicians. The PLCD-based storage and blending system allows theon-site technician or operator to adjust and change the blending ofcomponents through an on-site human machine interface (HMI) to meet thechanging needs of the on-site operation.

In certain embodiments, the process may be a computer-implementedprocess (e.g., executable on the electronic control system or PLCD). ThePLCD may implement the process by acquiring real-time operational datafrom the central and shuttle conveyors, the blender level monitor, andthe silo monitors; evaluating the data against stored prescribed limitsfor the optimal performance of each aspect of the storage and blendingsystem, and outputting appropriate control signals to interfaced deviceswithin the system to maintain the operation of those devices within thestored prescribed limits to achieve an optimized multi-component mixturefor a variety of desired blends throughout an ongoing site operation.

The PLCD 1300 typically includes or is interlinked with the silomonitors 880, an on-site Human Machine Interface 1310, the VFDs of thebelt motors 1320 for the lead and secondary shuttle conveyors and thecentral conveyors, the blender level monitor 860 of the blender 810, theblender control device 815, the delivery system 1600 with its tractortrailer list of loaded available tractor trailers and drivers, one ormore Network Interfaces 1330, one or more Information Processing Units1340, communication networks such as the Internet/Ethernet 1350,Authorized Users 1360, and one or more communication buses forinterconnecting the devices within the system.

For example, the desired operating data, as well as actual operatingdata, for the blending system configured to produce a plurality ofmulti-component blends can be retrieved and stored in memory. Memoryincludes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM,or other random access solid state memory devices; and optionallyincludes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magnetic disk storagedevices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or othernon-volatile solid state storage devices. Memory optionally includes oneor more storage devices remotely located from the PLCD. Memory, oralternately the non-volatile memory device(s) within memory, includes anon-transitory computer readable storage medium. In someimplementations, memory or the computer readable storage medium ofmemory stores: the data from the various blending programs for a varietyof multi-component blends and the operational data from the processingand use of those blends, or a subset of such data; an operating systemthat includes procedures for handling various basic system services andfor performing hardware dependent tasks; a network communication modulethat is used for connecting the PLCD 1300 to other computers or to anInformation Processing Unit 1340 via the one or more communicationnetwork interfaces 1330 (wired or wireless) and one or morecommunication networks 1350, such as the Internet, other Wide AreaNetworks, Local Area Networks, Personal Area Networks, metropolitan areanetworks, Virtual Private Networks, local peer-to-peer and/or ad-hocconnections, and so on; and Authorized Users 1360.

The PLCD 1300 and/or the Information Processing Unit may include controllogic that can utilize the stored data to determine variables in theprocessing and performance of the different multi-component blends thathave been made and tested. The control logic of the PLCD willcontinually communicate the data analyzed by the PLCD to the InformationProcessing Unit.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. The computer program instructions may also beloaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, orother devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed onthe computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to produce acomputer implemented process such that the instructions which execute onthe computer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a non-transitory computerreadable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computerreadable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, orsemiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combinationof the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of thecomputer readable storage medium would include the following: anelectrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computerdiskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or anysuitable combination of the foregoing, in the context of this document,a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that cancontain, or store a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wired, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of theforegoing. Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspectsof the present invention may be written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventionalprocedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming languageor similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirelyon the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latterscenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computerthrough any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

The foregoing provides a detailed description of the invention whichforms the subject of the claims of the invention. It should beappreciated by those skilled in the art that the general design and thespecific embodiments disclosed might be readily utilized as a basis formodifying or redesigning the natural gas supply system to performequivalent functions, but those skilled in the art should realized thatsuch equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope ofthe invention as set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: providing a storagemanagement system, the storage management system comprising anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing executablecomputer program instructions, the instructions executable to performsteps comprising: (a) monitoring a level, a mass or an amount of aningredient stored in one or more designated silos associated with a silosystem; (b) evaluating a level, a mass or an amount of a predeterminedblend mixture in a blender associated with a blender system; (c)receiving and processing a job schedule, the job schedule comprising:(1) the blend mixture and the outflow rate of the blend mixture from theblender; (2) a total amount of each of the one or more ingredientsrequired for a job; (3) a load amount of each ingredient carried in atractor trailer for delivery of the one or more ingredients to a wellsite; (4) a total number of the tractor trailers required to completethe job; and (5) a delivery time for transporting the tractor trailersfrom a remote storage facility to a well site and loading the loadamount of the ingredient into a designated silo and (d) interlinking thesilo system with the blender system, comprising: (1) monitoring andcollecting information on the level, the mass or the amount of theingredient in each silo associated with the silo system; (2) submittingthe collected information to a monitoring system and the managementsystem; (3) submitting the delivery rate of the ingredient from adesignated silo into the blender to the monitoring system and themanagement system; and (4) processing requests from the managementsystem to adjust the delivery rate of the ingredient from the silo intothe blender.
 2. The method according to claim 1, comprisingautomatically adjusting an outflow rate of the blend mixture into or outof the blender.
 3. The method according to claim 1, comprisingautomatically adjusting a delivery rate of one or more ingredients fromthe one or more silos into the blender.
 4. The method according to claim1, comprising submitting the job schedule to the monitoring system,wherein the monitoring system further comprising a programmable logiccontroller device (PLCD) comprising computer program instructions forincreasing, decreasing or stopping the outflow rate of the blend mixturefrom the blender by alternating a speed setting of a blender controldevice.
 5. The method according to claim 1, comprising communicatingwith a delivery system, the method further comprising: (1) receiving andprocessing a truck inventory, wherein the truck inventory comprises alisting of tractor trailers for delivering the ingredient from theremote storage location to the well site; (2) receiving and processinginformation on a tractor trailer ingredient manifest and submitting theprocessed information to the monitoring system and the managementsystem; (3) monitoring information on the level, the mass or the amountof the one or more ingredients contained in each tractor trailer andsubmitting the monitored information to the monitoring system and thestorage management system; (4) monitoring information on the duration oftime for each tractor trailer to travel from the remote storage facilityto the well site and submitting the monitored information to themonitoring system and the management system; (5) monitoring informationon the duration of time for delivering the solid granular material froma tractor trailer into a storage container and submitting the monitoredinformation to the monitoring system and the management system; (6)processing a request from the monitoring system to alter the tractortrailer list; (7) processing a notification of delivery completion fromthe management system and adjusting the truck inventory; and (8)processing a request from the management system to select a tractortrailer from the truck inventory used for delivering the ingredient fromthe remote storage location to the well site, wherein the selection isdependent on at least one of available driver hours, current location ofthe tractor trailer, and maintenance status of the tractor trailer.
 6. Amethod comprising: providing a storage management system, the storagemanagement system comprising a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium storing executable computer program instructions, theinstructions executable to perform steps comprising: (a) monitoring alevel, a mass or an amount of an ingredient stored in one or moredesignated silos associated with a silo system; (b) evaluating a level,a mass or an amount of a predetermined blend mixture in a blenderassociated with a blender system; (c) automatically adjusting an outflowrate of the blend mixture into or out of the blender; (d) automaticallyadjusting a delivery rate of one or more ingredients from the one ormore silos into the blender; (e) receiving and processing a jobschedule, the job schedule comprising: (1) the blend mixture and theoutflow rate of the blend mixture from the blender; (2) a total amountof each of the one or more ingredients required for a job; (3) a loadamount of each ingredient carried in a tractor trailer for delivery ofthe one or more ingredients to a well site; (4) a total number of thetractor trailers required to complete the job; and (5) a delivery timefor transporting the tractor trailers from a remote storage facility toa well site and loading the load amount of the ingredient into adesignated silo; (f) submitting the job schedule to a monitoring system,wherein the monitoring system further comprising a programmable logiccontroller device (PLCD) comprising computer program instructions forincreasing, decreasing or stopping the outflow rate of the blend mixturefrom the blender by altering a speed setting of a blender controldevice; (g) communicating with a delivery system, comprising: (1)receiving and processing a truck inventory, wherein the truck inventorycomprises a listing of tractor trailers for delivering the ingredientfrom the remote storage location to the well site; (2) receiving andprocessing information on a tractor trailer ingredient manifest andsubmitting the processed information to the monitoring system and themanagement system; (3) monitoring information on the level, the mass orthe amount of the one or more ingredients contained in each tractortrailer and submitting the monitored information to the monitoringsystem and the storage management system; (4) monitoring information onthe duration of time for each tractor trailer to travel from the remotestorage facility to the well site and submitting the monitoredinformation to the monitoring system and the management system; (5)monitoring information on the duration of time for delivering the solidgranular material from a tractor trailer into a storage container andsubmitting the monitored information to the monitoring system and themanagement system; (6) processing a request from the monitoring systemto alter the tractor trailer list; (7) processing a notification ofdelivery completion from the management system and adjusting the truckinventory; and (8) processing a request from the management system toselect a tractor trailer from the truck inventory used for deliveringthe ingredient from the remote storage location to the well site,wherein the selection is dependent on at least one of available driverhours, current location of the tractor trailer, and maintenance statusof the tractor trailer; and (h) interlinking the silo system with theblender system, comprising: (1) monitoring and collecting information onthe level, the mass or the amount of the ingredient in each siloassociated with the silo system; (2) submitting the collectedinformation to the monitoring system and the management system; (3)submitting the delivery rate of the ingredient from a designated silointo the blender to the monitoring system and the management system; and(4) processing requests from the management system to adjust thedelivery rate of the ingredient from the silo into the blender.